When an advertiser wishes to communicate information to users in general, in general wireless broadcast, since channels to be tuned in by the users are limited, an advertisement effect is achieved by explaining a product for several seconds to several minutes.
As opposed thereto, on the Internet, which has recently been developing explosively, information intended by an advertiser can only be communicated by letting the users perform an operation, for example, specifying a URL via a keyboard of a terminal or using a link function that readily allows reference to another page.
Accordingly, in methods of advertisement on the Internet that have been proposed and implemented, for example, a special window is displayed in a display portion of a user terminal by a program for Internet connection distributed to each user by an Internet service provider, displaying an advertisement image in the window, or a layout in which an advertisement banner is displayed together with a news, etc. is used.
These methods, however, are similar to those that have hitherto been implemented by an advertising tower disposed at a street corner, etc., and does not fully take advantage of a network.
Accordingly, the inventors of the present invention have proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-079182, a system, etc. that allows an operator to access, by a simple operation, information intended by an information provider, using an “information image” in which image information and at least related information defining a unique process are integrated as a single operation unit, the related information including a URL, etc., and that allows the information provider to provide a new information image and to update the information image so that a clue for providing new information will be recognized by the operator at any time.
By using the information image, the information image provider is allowed to define and execute various control operations of a terminal apparatus, and furthermore, by using an image that indicates a program operation, content of the operation is readily understood. Furthermore, because the image information and the related information are inseparably integrated, illegitimate use for an unintended purpose is discouraged, and even if the information image is distributed, a retuming effect from a distribution end to information of the image provider can be expected.
Such an information image, however, requires special software for spreading it out, and it is inconvenient when, for example, a user wishes to view the information at a visiting place. Accordingly, a system that allows an information image that has once been obtained to be re-obtained anywhere has been desired.
Furthermore, from a viewpoint of a server, a problem has existed that it is difficult to manage each user via the software for spreading out an information image.
Furthermore, in some cases, a user finds a shop of interest at a visiting place and wishes to register a URL of a Web site of the shop in a personal computer at home in order to obtain information regarding the shop. In such cases, hitherto, the user takes note of the URL on a sheet of paper, etc. and directly enters the URL in the personal computer at home after coming home to reference the site, or sends an electronic mail including the URL from a mobile phone, etc. to a mail address so that the electronic mail can be read from the personal computer at home, and opens the electronic mail after coming home to reference the site.
The above task, however, is laborious, and actually is not used so often. It will be extremely convenient if a URL, etc. of a desired shop can be registered in a personal computer at home by performing a simple operation on a portable terminal, which will contribute to further development of network-based commercial transactions.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an information image providing apparatus that allows a user to readily obtain an information image.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an information image providing apparatus that allows an information image once obtained to be re-obtained anywhere and that also allows management of each user.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an information providing apparatus that readily allows access to information on a network related to information obtained at a street corner, etc.